Learning Edge

Congratulations to graduating senior, Daniya!

Daniya has been a Learning Edge student since Kindergarten! In an end-of-year speech, she thanked the five tutors that have impacted her educational experience: Andrea, Mary-Anne, Silvia, Lindsey, and Andrew.

Like many students, Daniya’s journey through school was about more than academic growth; She learned resilience, hard work, and confidence. In her early years, Daniya said that tutors taught her a lot about independence and drive. “They inspired me to do bigger things.”

Daniya explained that she really struggled at the start of high school. “Freshman year was difficult; classes were way too hard and I shut down.” The academic struggles carried over into the next year, when she was matched with Andrew. Daniya said prioritizing work, asking questions, and asking for help helped her make a change and end high school on a stronger note.

“I’ve been impressed by the way that she’s persevered through hard times,” Andrew said. “The work piled up in ways that seemed overwhelming, but Daniya put her head down and got through it.”

Daniya’s advice to future Learning Edge students is to “Have faith in yourself.”

Daniya plans to attend Malcolm X and major in Criminology. She said she has always wanted to be a lawyer, but she has an arts background and so dance and arts will also be a part of her future.

We look forward to hearing about all that you accomplish, Daniya!

Congratulations to Joshua, one of our graduating seniors!

Joshua is a bit of a renaissance man–he was captain of his high school football team, he starred in one of his high school’s theatre productions, and he is a natural at math. According to his long-time mentor-tutor, Carolyn, he is a leader, he’s funny, he’s fearless on the football field, and he relates well to peers and adults alike.

Joshua has been a student at Learning Edge Tutoring since 4th grade, when his mother learned about our program from family and friends. Joshua and Carolyn have worked together for all of his nine years; He said, “we took to each other right away.”

When he was younger, the pair largely focused on homework completion. In more recent years, Carolyn has been instrumental in what Joshua called “project-based work”--including the “project” of applying for college and scholarships. Carolyn said, “It’s been fun to watch him go from reading easy books to becoming an independent learner in high school!”

Joshua is headed to Concordia University Wisconsin this fall. He plans to study justice and public policy with a minor in history and has received a scholarship to play football.

His advice to future Learning Edge students is: “Accept all. Accept everyone in the building, because you never know what you’re going to learn. Recently we had a financial literacy workshop to learn about adult life. All the volunteers contributed and they all experienced life differently and they all had different advice to add. Embrace it all, and see how it relates to you.”

Congratulations, Joshua! Have fun accepting and embracing all the good things that come your way in college!

Forty Acres Fresh Market is doing our big one for Juneteenth. You don't want to miss this party in the lot.
🔥 Grilling
🎵DJ
👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Family fun

Keep watching this page for too good to believe 3-day deals.

Co-sponsored with Austin African American Business Network Association - AAABNA and PNC Bank.

We had a wonderful week of celebrating another year of hard work at Learning Edge Tutoring. Our students and their tutors and families all enjoyed our annual end-of-year pizza party and award ceremonies. We are so grateful for the way our community shows up in support of these amazing students and we are SO PROUD of how the students show up, put in the hard work, and learn and grow throughout the year.

Students, don’t forget to read through the summer (check out Bernadette’s BINGO cards if you need inspiration), have fun, and be safe. And remember: Learning Doesn’t Stop When School Does! We’ll see you in the fall!

Calling all Learning Edge high school students! Don't miss this Financial Literacy workshop with Byline Bank's Judette Kurasz, taking place this Thursday at First United Church of Oak Park.

Alma, like many of our tutors, heard about us from a friend. Both she and her daughter joined our tutoring ranks to help students like Jenae get off the waitlist and into the program.

Jenae, a fourth grader at that time, said, “when I first got here I didn’t think I needed tutoring.” Three and a half years in, Jenae has reversed her thinking and instead listed ways Alma, her tutor and mentor, has helped her succeed.

Specifically, Jenae was able to point to various ways her confidence has grown alongside her academic skills. The pair reads together often, and every time they come across a word in a book that Jenae doesn’t know, they create flashcards with a definition and a hand-drawn picture. At school, Jenae’s class does a lot of “popcorn reading,” a turn-taking practice in which one student reads aloud for a bit before it popcorns to the next student. “I practice reading so much with Alma that now I feel ready when it’s my turn,” said Jenae.

In addition to “a diligent student, a strong reader,” Alma describes Jenae as “mature, well-mannered, and put together.” Jenae said she aims to look great wherever she goes– she even “stresses” over her outfits for tutoring nights. She went on to explain that her self-assurance goes beyond her clothing: with Alma’s encouragement, she has been using a stronger voice and speaking up more, as she can tend to be soft spoken.

The pair also talked about how they’ve grown closer throughout their time together. Alma spoke of a shared sense of humor and a shared love of puzzles (“we like puzzles a little TOO much,” Jenae confirmed as they both giggled).

Alma said that one thing they’ve been able to address as a team is the constant rising expectations that come with middle school. “I’m comfortable telling her things that I am having a problem with in life, or struggling with,” explained Jenae.

At Learning Edge, Jenae has found both confidence and a confidant. And *we're* confident that as academic expectations continue to rise, this pair will continue to meet them– and Jenae will look great doing it.

Jayden, a very tall, self-possessed, and witty ninth grader, said he was only *just this tall* when he started working with Mim as a kindergartner. Mim Geraghty, his tutor and mentor, described the daunting stack of index cards they employed for word recognition activities at that time as the same height. Jayden laughed and explained that “those cards were what got our relationship going!” He continued, “the relationship grew, the work got hard, and we’re still going.”

These two have been through it all over the course of their ten years together. They’ve progressed through the typical skill-building of elementary school work to addressing the higher-level assignments of Jayden’s high school courses. They’ve also seen one another through life’s challenges, evolutions, and joys. Last year, Mim went to Jayden’s 8th grade graduation. “He came across the stage and the crowd went wild,” said Mim. “He is very well loved by teachers and students.”

Jayden has the advantage of coming from a family of educators, with a mom who taught Special Education and an auntie who teaches Math. Both Mim and Jayden attribute much of Jayden’s academic achievement and executive functioning skills to these powerhouse influences in his life; Mim is proud to be in their company as another resource and long-standing friend.

Like many of our student-tutor pairs, their mentorship has grown to where they feel comfortable fitting in an extra tutoring session when needed. Mim always prioritizes seeing Jayden around his birthday, they’ve gone on fun adventure outings, and they keep in touch during the summer, typically taking the annual opportunity to select a novel to read together. “We Facetime and take turns reading until Jayden gets tired or has to eat something,” Mim explained as Jayden threw his head back in embarrassment.

It's fun to watch, one week at a time, as a tutoring mentorship grows--as did the once tiny child. “Jayden is kind of a dream student–he is very diligent and he’s extremely funny,” said Mim. “I look forward to seeing him each week.”